The Life of Tom Harris
by neymat96
Summary: Take a set of abusive rich parents, add in an offense that sends the kid to a place for juvenile delnquents in Chelsea, stir in a thirteen-year-old Alex Rider and finally mix with Agent Ian Rider. What do you get? Total Chaos! PENDING REWRITE!
1. Chapter 1

**_Edit: I don't like the second part of this story so I've decided to delete it and add it as another chapter._**

**AN: This is Tom's story. By the way he and Alex are thirteen in this fic.**

**Disclaimer: It was my birthday two days ago but not even my mom could get those rights away from Anthony Horowitz :(**

If only I had listened to my instincts, I wouldn't be in this abysmal position. If only…

My mind went back to last week, when I was still an innocent child. When I'd been toying with the idea of joining the school's most popular guys. The most popular ones, and also the most feared ones. At my school, the rulers were the bad guys, the ones who carried knives and knew what it was to be in the juvenile delinquent category. Kids who'd grown up around violence and learned that violence was the right and best way. I, myself didn't believe this, but I envied them. They were scared of nothing and no one. I hated that I wanted to be like them, but I did.

I approached their leader, Jake. He was seventeen and had a reputation for being suspended twelve times. The principal would have kicked him out but everyone knew that Jake had a tendency to get violent when he was criticized or excluded from everyone. Our Grade 11 French teacher had scars to prove this. He spread fear further than the school walls and made his own rules. Jake told me that I would have to pass a test to join the gang. He said that he and the others would have to think of a test first. I would be informed of the test when they had chosen it, and would have 24 hours to complete it. If I managed to complete the test they set me, I would be in the gang. However I would still need to prove myself to make sure that I could defend myself. If I did not complete the test, I would probably be an outcast. I would be excluded from the gang, of course but the rest of the school would either think me brave for daring to approach the gang, or they would ridicule me and I would only be able to escape the humiliation if I moved very far away. I was nervous, but there was no going back now or I would be used as a punching bag and would probably be miserable for the rest of the year. I went home feeling just a little hopeful for the first time in a long time. However, I still felt uneasy at the thought of completing the task I was set.

The next morning I was having a panic attack. I had been given my task. I had to break into the school and vandalize it. I was told that the night-guard would fall asleep by eleven o' clock. I would not be given any help but would be supplied with materials. Jake gave me a few cans of spray paint and a set of keys along with some advice. He told me to dress in black and to do the job as quickly as possible. I went home and set an alarm for a quarter to eleven but I doubted that I would be able to sleep. When my watch beeped I got out of bed and dressed in the clothes that I'd picked out earlier. I put my cell phone in my pocket and grabbed a back pack for the spray paint. The keys went in my other pocket and I, on an impulse put that horrible knife, the one that would soon become a murder weapon, in too.

I walked to the school. As I had been told, the night guard was fast asleep and snoring. I convinced myself that everything would be okay. I carried out my task quickly, but just as I was about to leave, I heard the night guard. I found out later that he had woken up and seen me on the school's new security cameras, the ones that none of the students had been told about. I panicked and pulled out the knife. I didn't even realize what I had done until blood started pouring out of him. The second I understood what I had done to him I ran. I didn't think but did it automatically. At the time I didn't know that the next morning the police would show up at my house and put me in handcuffs. I didn't know that my parents would soon be ashamed to call me their son. I didn't know anything at all.

By nine the next morning I was in a home for juvenile delinquents. My parents had been told that I had broken into school and killed a man. My mother stared at me like she couldn't believe it and my father started screaming about my many failures and about how I had disgraced him and my mother. I was almost glad when he stopped and I was taken away, but a split second later I realized the seriousness of my actions and started imagining what would happen to me. I was incredibly worried and wanted my mom. Even my father with his long list of failures would be welcome compared to these policemen. My thoughts suddenly turned to the man I had killed. Had he had a family? Loved ones? People who depended on him? Guilt washed through me and I felt like I was about to cry. I wanted to go back in time and stop myself from doing such stupid things, but I couldn't. I was stuck with my guilt and there was nothing I could do to ease it. My lawyer met with me and told me I would probably serve five to ten years, and that was if the judge was feeling sympathetic towards me. I didn't blame the judge for hating me, nor did I blame my lawyer for not trying very hard to cut the sentence down. I deserved everything that came to me for killing an innocent human being, for wanting to be a bad guy without thinking of the consequences. I had asked about the guard, whose name had been Stan Smith. He had a three-year-old daughter named Natalie. She and her mother were now or their own because of my idiocy. I hated myself and would have given anything to turn back the clock, but I couldn't. I couldn't make any difference to what I had done and I deserved to be despised and to have people disgusted with me. If only I hadn't done it.

I had managed to ruin three lives with one mistake. I had been a complete idiot who should be locked up, and I was. I wish that I could have done it differently. I would love to make it different but I can't. If only I had made a different choice and listened to my instincts. If only…


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey, thanks to my one reviewer, hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

Ian Rider walked into the Royal and General scowling. He'd just come back from Cuba and he needed some rest. He'd stopped **another** madman from killing millions of people and he wanted to relax. He also wanted to spend the weekend with Alex. It was his birthday on Saturday and he still needed to get the boy a gift. Alex hadn't said anything but he did want his uncle to be around and Ian knew it. He also knew that Alex didn't expect him to be there especially because he hadn't been at Alex's eleventh and twelfth birthday parties. Ian felt extremely guilty about it but it had been out of his hands. When Alex had turned eleven, he'd been in Japan and when he'd turned twelve he'd been unconscious in a cell somewhere in Afghanistan. He would **not **miss his nephew's birthday this year just because Blunt had decided that he should be sent to some remote corner of the world. He opened the doors and entered the Bank planning his excuse for not being able to take on a new assignment. He walked to the elevator and waited for it to arrive. Once it did, he entered and pressed seventeen, waiting as it took him to where the head or deputy head was waiting to give him his assignment. He knew that his boss would not be happy with him refusing an assignment and would probably try to coerce him into accepting but he **was** **not **going anywhere before the fifteenth, at least.

But, when he entered the office, Mrs. Jones paid no attention to the fact that he didn't want to do the assignment. In fact, she acted as though Ian had been enthusiastic about the idea, telling him that she was sure that he'd enjoy himself, and that it was going to be a piece of cake compared to some of his previous tasks.

Ian snorted. The more they tried to convince him that it would be easy and that it wouldn't be dangerous, the more wary he got. Ian counted to ten in his head and then began to explain, once again, why he couldn't possibly leave before the fifteenth— he wasn't stupid enough to say that it was because of his nephew's birthday, he knew that **that** would not be considered a valid excuse. But he did have a valid one too– he'd broken his left arm and couldn't possibly be expected to fight or spy with it in a sling. But, when he told Jones that she smiled at him and said; "I'm sure you'll be able to manage one thirteen year old, Mr. Rider." Ian stared at her, trying to find the words to express how appalled he was.

"You– you want me to spy on a **thirteen year old**?" he shouted, simultaneously questioning her sanity in his head.

"Yes, I'm sure you'll be able to do that with a broken arm. Actually, I suspect you might even be able to stay in your own home while doing it." She handed him a folder and then stood. Ian, recognizing the dismissal, left the office. Idly, he wondered who he would be spying on but then he pushed it to the back of his mind, knowing that he'd be able to spend Saturday, at least, with his nephew and without having to worry about his assignment.

* * *

I've been in this Home for about five weeks now and I'm starting to get used to it. It's not great but it's better than coping with my father when he's in a bad mood. The kids here aren't that violent towards me which is unusual but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Today it's Physical Training or, Physical Torture, as we like to call it. The exercise isn't that bad — it's the staring that I hate. Everyone else stares at me in the locker room but not Alex. He says that it's because he's my friend and because his uncle says it's not polite to stare, even if you want to. Alex isn't my only friend over here but I have a feeling that he's my only true one.

"Hey, Tom," he greets me. "Did you finish your EMS homework? It's due third period." My eyes widen. I haven't done it and the teacher hates me. She also happens to love Alex because he pays attention to her and looks like 'a little angel'. It's annoying but by now, I'm used to being treated badly by teachers and other adults. Yes, it does get annoying. No, I don't care. I don't, it's just… annoying. Really. Moving on, I need to reply to Alex or he'll think I'm spacing again.

"No, Angel, I haven't. Can I copy yours?" I reply to Alex. He scowls at me.

"I would have let you have my stuff, but I don't think I will. After all, Angels don't let other people copy their work."

"Come on, Alex!" I whine. "Why the heck* are you so sensitive anyway?" Oops. Telling him that he's a sensitive baby probably wasn't the best way to convince him to do me a favor, but he's so easy to bait that I couldn't resist. Besides, it's harmless and he does look like an angel– all blonde hair and big eyes with a sweet smile that makes him look like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. I snort inwardly; Alex is a walking, talking piece of evidence that proves the statement '_appearances can be deceiving_'.

"I'll lend you my homework but you have to stop calling me that. It's so annoying and **girly**." He bargains with me.

"Okay, I'll stop calling you Angel. Now gimme." I reach for his book just as we enter the school's gates.

"Oh, by the way, it's my birthday on Saturday and Ian says I can invite a friend to come out with me. Wanna come?"

"Um, you'll have to get him to ask that housemother lady. But, I do want to come," I reply. The bell rings before we have a chance to say anything else. I wonder whether the housemother will let me go with Alex. Probably not but I can hope.

I open my eyes smiling. Today is Friday, the twelfth of February and tonight I'm going to be sleeping over at Alex's house. I'm surprised that the housemother's allowing me out of here and even more surprised that Alex's uncle wants me to spend time with his nephew but I'm not gonna complain if it means that I can spend more time with Alex. He makes me feel normal and doesn't make pointed comments about my current home like most of the others. They look down on me and won't talk to me. I don't understand why because most of them think I'm dangerous– everyone but the school bullies are afraid to look at me wrong, which is funny because most of them have done things just as bad as what I've done, on purpose. But even the eighteen year old bullies leave me alone now. Alex took care of them. The guy has a savior complex and he's seriously good at karate. He's second Dan which is apparently an accomplishment. I wouldn't know as my dad never allowed me to do any sort of self defense. After all, if I could defend myself, he'd lose his favorite punching bag. And that would never do.

Anyway, I know today's gonna be a good day. After all, my father won't be able to visit me this weekend and no new bruises on Monday is definitely a good thing. It's not actually the beatings, even though those do hurt. It's the stares and the reminders that the parents don't actually think I'm good enough to love. They'd prefer to ignore me and hurt me. Even after three years of my father hitting me it still hurts when I remember that he doesn't care. I used to promise myself that I'd make sure my grades were higher and that I'd behave in class. But then I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I just wasn't important enough for my father. And nothing I did could or would change that. But I'm not gonna brood. After all, today's gonna be a good day.

**AN: Review please.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider.**

**AN: Sorry guys, I know it's been a long time coming but the newest installment is finally here. Now that exams are over I can write, so expect more chapters soon. Now I'm off to stress about my results. Enjoy!**

It's Alex's birthday tomorrow, and that friend of his, Tom, will be coming over for a sleepover later. I really didn't want to have to kill him, especially since he was one of Alex's friends - but if I needed to, I would. I'd do anything to keep Alex safe, and he knows that. But, hopefully, I would never have to prove it to him. I walk out of my room, on the way to the stairs and hear Alex waking up.

Jack's already downstairs and I smile at the sound of her singing. The red-head was slightly insane but she was part of the family and I'd long since gotten used to her quirky ways. Just like she'd gotten used to me disappearing out of the blue. I walk into the kitchen, quickly smoothing my face blank of all traces of my smile - if Jack saw me smiling, she'd probably faint. She was rushing around, trying to make Alex's cake and breakfast at the same time. I walked to the coffee grinder and poured myself a cup. I greeted Jack and then went straight back upstairs, ignoring the reproachful look she shot me. I had a lot of things to do and staying downstairs just to say hello to Alex was silly, even if I did want to.

I walked into school and went straight to the library to wait for Alex; I didn't want to be stared at today. The library was the only place with people who were either too busy or too polite to stop what they were doing and try their best to make me uncomfortable, whether on purpose or just subconsciously. I hated that more than anything. I realized that I deserved it in their eyes, hell, half the time I felt that I deserved it, but that didn't make it any easier for me to deal with all the stares and whispers. My thoughts turned to my parents who had finally decided to act as if I didn't exist – which was a double-edged sword; on one hand I felt relief because it meant that my dad wouldn't be paying me any more visits but, on the other hand, it proved that my parents truly couldn't give a damn about me which was a tough pill to swallow. The bell rang and startled me out of my thoughts.

The day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was the end of school. I walked out of registration and met Alex at the bike shed. We walked out of the school gates together. I was about to meet Alex's uncle.

**AN: Please review! I appreciate the favouriting and alerting as well but I enjoy reviews most. And, to all those who didn't get replies when they reviewed either this or my other story, I will reply soon, I just thought that you might want to read the chapter before reading my replies.**


	4. AN

Hi everyone

I'm extremely sorry for leaving you guys hanging for so long. I have had an icredible number of things going on in my life, some of which are:

My grandmother getting extremely ill

Not having access to a computer

Writer's block

School (I take 3 extra subjects and am an A student – I need to maintain standards)

As sorry as I am, I will probably not be able to update soon. My exams start on the 10th of November – which is also my birthday.

So, please hang in there and I have not abandoned these stories. If I ever do, I will post a notice.

Thanks

ARJ


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